


Textbook Romance

by misura



Category: Warcraft (2016)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 04:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16010495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "So what are you reading, spell chucker?"





	Textbook Romance

_"Apprentice," Nedizh purred, his eyes the dark blue of storm clouds, crackling with the promise of thunder and lightning. "If only you knew how long I have waited for someone -_

"Sorry, what?" Khadgar said, looking up. They still seemed to be moving, which was good, as opposed to being ambushed by orcs or some such thing.

Lothar was frowning at him, which was not as good. Normal, though. _Sadly._

"I asked what you were reading about," Lothar said. "Seems very absorbing."

"Uh," said Khadgar. He told himself that there was nothing to be embarrassed about, really. After all, what sort of useful reading had _Lothar_ been getting done these past days?

It was just that from time to time, Khadgar needed a break. Less heavy, serious magical theory, more ... light stuff. To take his mind off of things. And if he chose something romantic - well, a bit of escapism had never hurt anyone, had it?

"Are you blushing?" Lothar asked. He sounded delighted.

Khadgar scowled. "If you must know, I - I think it's too complicated to explain. No offense."

"None taken," Lothar said. He smiled. Lothar had a nice smile, really. Sexy, almost, not that Khadgar paid much attention to that sort of thing. At all. "So what's it called?"

 _Self-deception. A stupid, hopeless crush. Terrible taste in men._ "Uh, what's what called?"

Lothar rolled his eyes and snatched the book out of his hands. "You should spend more time sleeping. Studying's all very well, but what good are you going to do anybody if you fall off your horse in the middle of a fight?"

Khadgar made a show of looking around. "Looks more like the middle of nowhere to me."

"Your mistake," said Lothar, flipping through the book.

Khadgar wasted a few seconds feeling grateful that at least he'd picked one of the titles that came without illustrations. (He'd enjoyed them, once upon a time, but nowadays, he found they just got in the way of imagining Nedizh, the sexy, smouldering Guardian, and Mokhar, sexy, smouldering Commander of Anerokh's armies exactly the way he wanted to imagine them. To say nothing of the unnamed protagonist, a young mage of as yet untested power.)

Then Lothar paused, lips moving, and Khadgar felt his stomach plummet. "Um," he said.

Lothar looked up.

"I can explain?" Khadgar offered.

Lothar smirked. "I think I got the gist of it, but thanks for the offer. Maybe later?"

 _What's_ that _supposed to mean?_

 

What it was supposed to mean was, it turned out, that Lothar wouldn't talk or even look at him for the rest of the day, until they'd made camp. Khadgar tried to tell himself it was a relief.

He tried distracting himself with one of the texts he'd ahem borrowed from Medivh's library, but he found it hard to keep his attention on what he was reading, instead of on Lothar.

Obviously, Lothar was not about to confess his undying love.

On the other hand, he hadn't seemed to think Khadgar reading an ahem vaguely erotic text was funny, or a reason to think even less of Khadgar than he already did. Viewed in a certain light, Lothar's reaction had almost been ... kind. Understanding. Letting Khadgar preserve his dignity in front of the others.

"Spell-chucker."

 _Right. Kind and understanding, that's Lothar all over._ "Commander."

Lothar sighed, sitting down. For a moment, he looked as tired as Khadgar felt. "You could make up a nickname, you know. Fair's fair. I won't bite you."

 _I know. Not even if I asked very nicely._ Khadgar shrugged. "I'll let you know when I think of one."

"All right," Lothar said.

Silence. Khadgar fidgeted. "Um, was that all?"

Lothar gave him a look. "Look, Khadgar - you're a nice kid. A good kid. Your heart's in the right place, even when your brains are maybe sometimes a little - " He gestured.

 _Yes, thank you._ "We can't all be big, brave, muscle-y soldiers like you." Khadgar wondered if he was being pre-emptively rejected. "And I'm not a kid."

Lothar's expression suggested he disagreed with that addition. "My point is, real life - it's not like it is in the stories. People get hurt. You have to be careful. Get a proper night's sleep when you can."

 _A lecture. Great._ "All due respect, I think I know pretty well what real life is like." _For example, I know that in real life, the Commander of all of Azeroth's armies isn't going to stare deeply into my eyes and tell me -_

"I like you," said Lothar. "I don't want you to get hurt."

 _So close, and yet so far._ "Thanks." Khadgar hoped he didn't sound as bitter as he felt.

Lothar groaned. "I didn't mean - I _like_ you, bookworm."

 _Oh. Huh._ "Right. You didn't mean that you liked me. Just that you liked me. And then you have the gall to say something about _me_ sounding like an idiot."

"I never said you were an idiot," said Lothar quickly. "A bit foolish, perhaps. A bit slow on the uptake. I'm baring my soul to you here. Telling you my deepest, darkest secrets. The least you might do is take me seriously."

"Your deepest, darkest secret is that you like me? That's not that dark. Or that deep."

Lothar glowered at him.

Khadgar tried to detect a hint of smouldering. "Um. I meant to say thanks? Obviously, I'm flattered. And naturally, I fully return your deep, dark feelings. Of liking."

_Yup, that's some definite smouldering right there. Maybe._

Lothar exhaled and rose. "Good. Glad we got that settled. You ever want some real company at night instead of a book, you know where to find me."

"I don't actually read in bed," Khadgar said. "It's um - it can damage the book. The Guardian would kill me. So."

Lothar waited. "Yes, he would. Good call, spell-chucker."

 _I thought I was joking._ "So," Khadgar said.

"So," Lothar said.

 _So, clearly, I am going to have to do all the work in this relationship, as well as most of the talking and a good half of the thinking._ "So if you give me five minutes, I'll get my stuff and we can continue this conversation in your tent?"

"Make it two and you've got yourself a deal," Lothar said.


End file.
